Game 2012.32: Tigers at Athletics

Yesterday we mentioned we would take a look at the Tiger DH performance. Then again, you may want to avert your eyes.

Currently the Tiger DH line (BA, OBP, SLG, OPS) looks like this:

Tigers DH: .192 .228 .283 .512

AL Avg DH:.263 .334 .454 .788

With those numbers we could have kept Brandon Inge, shifted him to DH, and come out ahead.

Of course the league averages include Detroit, who brings the numbers down. Detroit has edged Seattle out for 13th in the league, but those 2 teams are over 100 OPS points behind the 12th place team.

DH isn’t the only problem position for Detroit: they are league worst at 2B, and 13th at RF production. But DH is worse, since it is one of the most important positions for offensive production (that’s kind of the idea of it).

Based on 2012 league averages, DH is the most productive position at the plate; based on the 2011 numbers, DH was slightly behind 1B as the most productive position.

It is still early, and things may improve. But as with the Raburn numbers, there is a track record. Look at Tiger DH performance over the course of the Leyland/Dombrowski era:

2006 .256 .310 .464 .774 9th

2007 .260 .364 .468 .831 5th

2008 .218 .310 .388 .697 13th

2009 .245 .325 .379 .704 13th

2010 .259 .341 .373 .713 11th

2011 .303 .354 .442 .796 4th

2012 .192 .228 .283 .512 13th

It’s almost as if the team were built as a NL team, with the DH an afterthought, or a place to rest banged-up players (albeit a NL team with no speed and no ability to bunt).

It isn’t hard to see that Victor Martinez made a huge difference, solving an ongoing DH problem, which has now resurfaced. Our 2012 DH could outdo the 2008 DH for lightweight hitting, and could lead to a similarly disappointing season.

Will the Tigers make a roster move to address the DH problem? Does past history suggest they will cross their fingers, continue rotating bodies through the DH spot, and hope Martinez comes back? What would you do?

***

Tonight’s Player of the Pre-game: Danny Worth. The Tiger 2nd Basemen are batting .159 (Raburn), .156 (Santiago), .125 (Inge), and .100 (Worth). But with the fewest plate appearances of the lot, a good game by Worth could vault him toward the top of the low 2B bar.

41 Comments

Vince in MN

May 11, 2012 at 5:03 pm

Leyland likes the rotating DH thing (see above results), another area where I completely disagree. V-Mart turned out to be the exception to the rule only because he was injured and couldn’t catch and got plugged into the DH role full-time. Originally he was going to rotate between DH and backup catcher. I hate to sound like a broken record, but we wouldn’t be in the pickle we are in (sucky DH, sucky 2B) if they had taded Young for a REAL secondbaseman over the winter. Although V-Mart going down was unexpected it would at least have solved half of our current offensive production problems (and some defensive too). I think we are stuck with DY (who I equate with DH role) so don’t know how that situation can be improved. Secondbase is a big problem also and I have no idea what can be done about that immediately unless they want to bring up a MiL player. But then what to do with the other 2B dreck already on the roster. We are likely stuck with Raburn too. They need to get creative without giving up the farm. Maybe something will turn up by trading deadline, but that is an awfully long way off.

Coleman

May 11, 2012 at 5:08 pm

Another way to look at it is that we have one of the better DHs in the league–but we’ve got him playing first.

Kevin in Dallas

May 11, 2012 at 7:57 pm

Great post Coleman.

Coleman

May 11, 2012 at 10:22 pm

Once again, it’s all about Jackson and Dirks.

PHToy in HK

May 11, 2012 at 11:00 pm

So much for the QS streak.

Jud

May 11, 2012 at 11:19 pm

the battle cry all year will be….”one in arow!

Vince in MN

May 11, 2012 at 11:44 pm

How about “Play nine….. every other game.”

tom in troy

May 11, 2012 at 11:24 pm

Hmmm, I don’t like the way this one is unfolding.

Vince in MN

May 11, 2012 at 11:36 pm

So yesterday’s win was more due to a bad outing by Colon apparently.

tom in troy

May 11, 2012 at 11:44 pm

The first half of this game would make that appear to be the case. It’s either that or Cy Milone just has the Tigers handcuffed at the plate.

Vince in MN

May 11, 2012 at 11:42 pm

I could do without the inane “scout” comments on MLB.com

Coleman

May 11, 2012 at 11:42 pm

So now Brandon Inge has as many RBI (16) for the season as Prince Fielder. Despite what Stephen says, I am not amused.

Vince in MN

May 11, 2012 at 11:47 pm

A couple of grand slams will do that. To be fair to Prince, he hasn’t had too many of those type of opportunities.

Coleman

May 11, 2012 at 11:57 pm

This is true–Fielder has, remarkably, only had 1 PA with bases loaded; Inge has had 5.

On the other hand, Fielder has knocked in 16 with 71 runners on base during his plate appearances. Inge has knocked in 16 with 57 runners on base during his plate appearances.

Chris in Texas

May 12, 2012 at 12:03 am

I have no doubt that Inge will be Inge again…He is what he is…But, the real alarming statistic for this offense, is how little both Cabrera and Fielder have done w/ a lot of traffic on the base paths. They need to perform at big time levels or we won;t score much, especially, if Young, Raburn and Peralta play the way that they have. I am not a big fan of Inge, but, he has outperformed the majority of the Tigers lineup.

tom in troy

May 11, 2012 at 11:48 pm

I havae every reason to believe that B. Inge will turn back into the pumpkin of a ball player that his numbers tell us he has been and that he will be as soon as Monday comes around if not sooner. He is in “show up my old team” mode.

Coleman

May 12, 2012 at 12:05 am

Or not.

Coleman

May 11, 2012 at 11:45 pm

Batting Young and Raburn back-to-back creates a vacuum that sucks the air out of any kind of rally.

Vince in MN

May 11, 2012 at 11:49 pm

But they are both so due.

Vince in MN

May 11, 2012 at 11:52 pm

Inge creeping up to the Mendoza Line as Raburn sets a new bar for the Rayburn Line with each AB.

tom in troy

May 11, 2012 at 11:56 pm

Ridiculous.

Chris in Texas

May 11, 2012 at 11:59 pm

This team is kind of hard to read…part of you wants to believe that they will get on a roll and that is probably the reality,but, they still have a suspect bullpen outside of Benoit and Valverde (Which cost them in the ALCS) and how long can they stick w/ Young and Raburn? Young obviously, has more upside..but, major character flaws and he has under 10 RBI batting 5th!!! and to be fair…His big 2B, to drive in a couple runs…was an awful hanging slider or curve…A NL pitcher could have hit that pitch…Raburn is another story, where I understand, why Jim is playing him..He is the best option for the long term…But, how long do you wait? What if he is still hitting under.200 by June?

Coleman

May 12, 2012 at 12:03 am

They seem hard to read, but…maybe we are trying too hard? Perhaps they are just a .500 team.

jud

May 12, 2012 at 12:02 am

how about “Lets win every other one for the Gipper”

tom in troy

May 12, 2012 at 12:04 am

Enjoy it Inge. It will not last.

jud

May 12, 2012 at 12:07 am

this just further proves how bad the blowpen is ..They can’t get out Inge and every single other team in baseball has no problem what so ever doing so…..

Coleman

May 12, 2012 at 12:08 am

Inge now has a higher 2012 slugging percentage (.500) than Miguel Cabrera (.492). Is there any Pepto-Bismol in this place?

tom in troy

May 12, 2012 at 12:12 am

I think I just saw Dave D and J Leyland fighting over the last bottle.

Coleman

May 12, 2012 at 12:51 am

Yeah. And they took the Pepto-Bismol too!

jud

May 12, 2012 at 12:16 am

meanwhile Raybum sits in the dugout muttering ..”why can’t I do that Inge stuff ????

Mark

May 12, 2012 at 12:26 am

Balester is making Schlereth look good.

tom in troy

May 12, 2012 at 12:27 am

Where the heck did this bull pen come from? Below, Balester, Putkonen — never heard of them and I don’t want to see them again. Let’s leave them all in Oakland.

Coleman

May 12, 2012 at 12:28 am

Collin Balester = Jason Grilli

Mark

May 12, 2012 at 12:30 am

When does Alburquerque come back?

tom in troy

May 12, 2012 at 12:32 am

Yeah, and whatever happened to Bobby Seay?

Coleman

May 12, 2012 at 12:41 am

Ah yes, part of the Ol’ Seay-Lyon combo. Seay tore his rotator cuff in 2009, tried to recover without surgery in 2010 (nope), then had surgery, and hasn’t pitched since.

Lyon is pitching in obscurity. Or is it Houston? One of the two.

Coleman

May 12, 2012 at 12:45 am

Probably after the All-Star break. He is on the 60-day DL and eligible to come back June 3, but nobody is expecting him that early.

Damus Fucious

May 12, 2012 at 9:10 am

Probably July 15th – August 1st timetable for Al-Al. He will need a month prior throwing hard.

I predicted Balester wouldn’t make it to the All Star Game on the 25-man roster.
Will Raburn make it thru next week?

A few more changes are coming real soon. Close to panic-mode in the Comerica Park front offices.

Inge did tweak his mechanics – thanks to a suggestion by Oakland’s hitting coach Chili Davis to not open his left foot as much.

beejeez

May 12, 2012 at 9:11 am

You can’t miss the answer to the DH problem. He’s the big dude playing first base.

Andrew in Toronto

May 12, 2012 at 4:58 pm

But then who plays third, and can he hit better than Young?

Coleman

May 12, 2012 at 5:33 pm

At this point Don Kelly can hit better than Young. Young’s career pattern has been slow start, hot in June and July, then cools off. Hopefully June brings something good.

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